Guard for bank-teller cages



July 28, 1925.

A. V. CLELAND GUARD FCR BANK TELLER CAGES Filed Dec. 3l, 1921 f7. V. CLELAND 2 Sheets-Sheet 1,547,734 A v CLI-:LAND

GUARD FOR 4BANK TELLER CAGES Filednec. 31, 1921 -:a sneek-sheet 2 July 28, 1925.

Patented July 28, 1925.

i UNITED. sTAi'rEs PATENT oFFlcE.

ANDREW v. CLELAND, von MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

GUARD roza BANK-TELLER cAGrEs.

i Appucauonnied ne'ember 31, 1921'. seriai'No. 526,378.

vBe itknown that I, ANDREW V. CLELAND, a citizen'of the United States, resident of Minneapolis, county of Hennepin, State lof Minnesota, have yinvented certainV new and useful Improvements in Guards forl Banli- Tellerk Cages, of Vwhich the lfollowing 'is a specification. i i l The object of my invention Vis to provide a 'protecting gate or guard which ,may bey l,instantly thrustvbetween the teller lor other person in charge Ofthecash in the banlrjand Va robber standing in front ,of or near the pointed out in the claims.

tellers window. In bank` tellers cages as usually Vconstructed small grated windows are provided, through which' the teller passes out the cash to the banks customers 'or receives deposits and in case of a hold-up ofthe bank, the clerk has no means of protecting himself when a robber stands at theV window and demands the money. The clerk cannotidrop tothe vfloor underl theV counter andwill be shot ifrhe attempts to.v With my invention a bulletproof shield or guard is immediatelyithrown in .front'of the window, separatingvthe clerk from the robber and affording completeprotection.

- The' yinvention consists generally` in various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described and Y particularly 1 In the accompanying drawings forming partofthis specification,

Figure 1 is ase'ctional view' of a tellers cage with my invention' applied thereto,

Figure 2 is an vinside view, showing the normal position of the guard or shield under the counter, taken on the section line 2 2 `of Figure 3,

Figure 3 is a sectional viewon the line 3 3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view, showing the preferred construction of the guard.

In the drawing, 2 represents the outside wall of the tellers cage, having the usual window 3 and grating 4. In the rear of the tellers window is the usual counter 5 over which the cash is paid and received. Usually a robber would step up to this window and presenting his revolver, compel the i.

teller to hand over the cash in the cage and unless the teller was advised of the approach of the robber, he would have no opportimity to grasp a weapon himself or dodge under the counter.

'Io protect the teller standing in the cage -the dog, releasing the and V enable him to throw afguard in front of the vwindow, without moving'himself from his standing position, I provide an underside of the bar a metallic shield 8l which normally is suspended below the counterbut is adapted'to rise through thel counterto the dotted line `position inFigure 1 and effectually screen the person'in front of the window. Y Y

. At the klower end of the plate 8 is across bar l9 that is normally engaged by Ya dog 10 pivoted atv `11 and heldin engagement with the cross bar byv a spring 12. The lower end of this `dog has a treadle extensionto be engaged by the footof the operator. On each side ofthe guard plateare wings 13 connectedto `the plate by suitable'me'ans, such as spring-hinges 14, which normally tend to hold the, wings in the position indi- Figure 1, and held by a lug 15 on a slide 16 waging the lower edges of the hinged wings for holding them in their closed position. Thecross-bar 9y is mounted to slide vertically on rods 19 to guide the guard and cushionsprings 2O are preferably'provided on said rods to ytake 11p the shock when upward movement-ofthe cross bar and slide is arrested by engagement with the underside'of the counter. Gables 2l are connected tothe ends of the cross bar 9 and pass over sheaves 22 and are attached at23 to the underside of the counter and extension springs 24 have running connections at 25 with the cables and normally tend to raise and hold the guard plate in its raised position, the springs being put under tension when the guard plate is lowered and when it is raised, the power of the spring will .instantly throw the guard plate to the dotted line position in Figure 1 and eflectually conceal the clerk or teller in the cage.

I prefer to provide a cable 26 attached to the dog 10 and passing. around sheaves 27 at a distant point, so that a person standing in the cage at any place opposite the counter can puthis foot on this cable and trip guard and covering the tellers cage.

vertically that has a' pin hole and slot connections 17 `With the -guar'd' 8,-'normallyr en It will be understood that the hinged wings are not released until the guard reaches a point above the counter, when the slide 16 is pushed down by engagement with the counter to release the lower ends of the wings and allow them to fly open.

1n Figure e 1 have shownV a modified construction, which consists in providing a guard having steel slats in the form of blind slats, so arranged that a bullet coming from the outside and striking them will be deflected upwardly, while if a shot is fired from the cage, the slats will deflect thekbullet downwardly to a point where the robber would be standing in frontvof the window.

The bar 7 is fitted into the counter so that its upper surface is iush with the counter and the guard plate will be entirely concealed until such time as it is released and thrown up in position for use.

l claim as my invention:

1. The. combination, with a bank tellers counter and window,`of a bullet-proof guard mounted to be moved to a position in front of the window on the inside of the cage, and a foot controlled device for moving said guard, and said guard rhaving-hinged wings adapted to be opened when the guard is moved to its working position.

2. The combination, with a tellers counter and window, of a guard normally arranged below the counter and window to move vertically to a position opposite the window, a device for holding said guard normally inI its lowered position, mechanism for releasing said guard and allowing it to be projected upwardly to its window guard'ng position and hinged'wings normally folded and adapted to open up and form extensions of said guard when it is movedto its window-guarding position.`

k8. The combination, with a tellers counter and window, of a guard normally positioned below the counter and movable verti- :ally through an opening therein to a point l opposite the window, guard and normally folded against one side thereof, with means for locking said wings in their folded positiomsaid locking means becoming tripped to release said wings when said guard reaches a predetermined point in its vertical movement, springs for `raising said guard and a latch device arranged to release said springs to project said guard. y 4. The combination, with' a bank tellers counterV and window, of a bullet-proof guard normally beneath the counter and a foot controlled device for projecting said guard upwardly between the clerk standing at the counter and said window, and spring actuated wings mounted on said guard and Varranged to swing to an open position when the guard is raised and form lateral eX- tensions thereof. n l

5. The combination with'a bank tellers counter and window, of -a'bullet-proof guard arranged to be moved to a guarding position between the window and the normal standing position of the teller, and means normally closed but adapted to swing to an open position when the guard is moved to its guarding position, and form exten-V wings hinged to said sions thereof, and a mechanism for controlling the movement of ysaid guard.

6. The combination with a tellers counter and window, of a guard plate normally arranged below the counter and window to move vertically toa position opposite the window, vertical guides on which said guard 1s movable, springs adapted to norimally exert an upward pull on said guard plate, -a latch device for normally locking said guard inits lowered position, a tripping ymechanism for said latch device, said plate having means adaptedto Vopen and form an additional guard when said plate is moved to its guarding position.

A In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 22d day of December, 1921.

ANDREW V. CLELAND. 

